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WEEK 9 LIVE COMMENTARY: OHIO STATE at PENN STATE

Racing to finish his Football Preview on Power Spread to go meet Kurt for the game!

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What’s Kurt doing?

Waiting for Drew at Stout NYC near Madison Garden. New home for the Buckeye Faithful to watch the games on Saturday. That’s right, Kurt is no longer AWOL!

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What’s Mike doing?

Trying to stop me from posting about what he is doing every week! Actually Mike was coaching my nephew, Casimir, in his big soccer game last Saturday, while my other nephew, Casey, used his vast photography skills to take the pictures.

I have a feeling that this week, Mike is going to have to get behind Martinez and root for Nebraska in a big Saturday night showdown with Michigan. Two teams running a Power Spread Hybrid with two coaching staffs that don’t quite get the full power and potential of this idea.

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WHAT WE SHOULD ALL BE DOING?

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OHIO STATE at PENN STATE

1ST QUARTER

OSU1 – Almost a pick 6, then a penalty. Not the fast start I was looking for.

PSU1 – Another big mistake – this time senior CB Howard in man coverage, but the WR dropped a potential TD!

OSU2 – A first down this time, but another big mistake. Miller overthrew a wide open Philly Brown for a sure TD! 3 potential TDs barely missed on each of the first 3 drives of the game. 0-0.

OSU3 – Miller looked like Krenzel from the day, overthrowing a wide open 5 yard out for a first down. We needed a good start from Miller, not his worst.

PSU3 – Another 3 and out. OSU lucky for the slow start by PSU

OSU4 – Finally some good PS execution and the first big play to the backup TE, Nick Vannett for 22! But the drive breaks down after that and another punt.

OSU 0 PSU 0

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2ND QUARTER

PSU4 – Penn State needs to take advantage of the bad OSU start and they now get their first big offensive play of the game – also to the TE. A nice play action and sling down the middle of the field. But they’re drive stalls again. OSU makes yet another mistake with a dropped interception. Another nice punt pinning us close to the goaline for the second time. But PSU is playing with fire not taking advantage of another poor OSU start.

OSU5 – Some nice PS plays on the ground, Hyde & Miller, but from 2nd+short we cannot get the 1st down. The 3rd down scheme was Hyde fumbling the snap out of the Wildcat – why? I have too much respect for Herman to question him for one strange call.

PSU5 – Now McGloin is coming on. A nice medium sling, then a perfect bomb down the right sideline. On 3rd and 7, another dropped interception by OSU! 4th+7 and O’Brien is going for it. This is his MO, but having a terrible kicker doesn’t help. OSU gets the stop!

OSU6 – DISASTER! ANOTHER MISS THROW ON 3RD DOWN THEN A BLOCKED PT FOR A TD.Penn State 7-0

OSU7 – HORRIBLE POSSESSION. There seems to now be an emotional breakdown on OSU, while the home crowd has PSU fired up! Ohio State is lucky to still be in the game.

Unbelievable – Defensive holding on the Punt – FIRST DOWN OSU. Unfortunately, a typical Big 10 game in 2012. Though this one maybe should be blamed on the refs – replay looks like a very shady call…

Miller misses on a double covered deep pass, but 2 runs get OSU a 1st down. MILLER TIME – 37 YD RUN OFF A TRIPLE OPTION WHERE MILLER SIMPLY FOLLOWED HIS RB THRU THE HOLE! (more on that play later this week!) 1st and Goal

TD Hyde on 3rd and Goal – straight Power from the Power Spread!

OSU 7 PSU 7

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HALFTIME

Well the bad start I was afraid happened and OSU is lucky to have not been done by a lot. An OSU blowout win is still a strong possibility, imo, though I am surprised at how well Roof has the defense playing to this point. Then again, Miller was awful throwing the ball – this could already be a blowout for OSU.

Now we will see – does Penn State’s inability to take more advantage of another bad start by the Buckeyes come back to haunt them?!

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3RD QUARTER

PSU1 – BACK TO BACK HUGE PLAYS BY NEW #48 RYAN SHAZIER. SACK, THEN INTERCEPTION FOR TD!OHIO STATE 14-7

Fickell bringing the blitz at the right time. Penn State using just very straight forward passing schemes – not good enough.

PSU2 – Two big passes and one huge breakdown in the Buckeye secondary. This is not acceptable at this point in the season. And off the same simple passing scheme. Big Blitz again from Fickell and PSU goes conservative again. FG. Penn State 10-14

OSU1 – No running room as PSU is stacking the line. But Miller can’t pass today!

PSU3 – More standard PRO schemes from OBrien and more blitzes by Fickell. After a 3rd and 17 netted 8 yards, PSU goes for a fake punt. PASS INCOMPLETE. OSU ball.

This is what happens when the standard schemes don’t yield results. Or when the concepts are too stringent. To be aggressive the team must rely on Trick Plays. One for the Power Spread.

PSU4 – Three incompletes by McGloin. This is what the conventional Pro Passing Spread gets if the Defense executes the Passive Aggressive Scheme.

OSU3 – Now the PS read options are starting to work. Complete a couple passes. Open up the run. That’s all we needed. And THAT’S the Power Spread. First Hyde, then Miller. And here we go – 28 yds Rod Smith on a great delayed give by Miller that left the DE guessing wrongly that Miller would keep. 14 yds Miller as he did keep it. Then Hyde 5, Miller 1. ALL RUNS – THAT’S THE POWER SPREAD!

OSU 28 PSU 10

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4TH QUARTER

PSU5 – A bad penalty on 4th&2. Completed passes twice on 3rd down. Two converted 4th down plays. And finally a scrambling mess that McGloin completed 2 yards for a TD. Terrible. At least PSU didn’t get the 2 pt conversion. PSU 16-28

OSU4 – The running out of the Power Spread continues. Penn State mistakingly thinks we are running on 3rd+4, brings everyone up and Miller finally hits a big one. 72 Yds to Stoneburner! TEAM TEAM TEAM!OSU 35-16

PSU6 – More 3rd down completions. Penalties. 1st&Goal and a big blitz, another sack. The very next play a 20 yd TD PASS! TERRIBLE COVERAGE! PSU 23-35

Not much time left, but this is just bad defense. On the last 2 Penn State drives. Never should those have been TD drives. And this is too far into the season to write it off as transition. Something is still not right on Defense.

OSU5 – Some read option and a 1st down to finish up.

OSU 35 PENN STATE 23

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WRAP

I don’t want to make this into a PRO style offense vs. the Power Spread, but this game was a great example of the divide and the ease at which the PS succeeds and the PRO offense is simply no longer in vogue. Ohio State did everything in it’s power to hand this game to Penn State in the first half. Miller’s passing was as bad as its looked all year. Our team continues to get off to terrible starts. Our defense and special teams continue to have huge breakdowns. Yet we are won rather handily and are 9-0 with probably the worst team you will see in the Meyer era. Why? Two words – Power Spread.

Bill O’Brien is obviously a good coach and has done a good job. He’s even making Ted Roof look good. I’m kidding. Roof was a well respected coordinator in the past, but had a bad run with Auburn. Who knows. I will look further into it. But even a good coach like O’Brien can’t live and die with the Old Standard. It still works in the NFL for many reasons, but it won’t last forever. And the time for change is at hand, has been at hand for a while now in College Football.

One could easily argue that Penn State out played us. But it doesn’t matter. THE PRO STYLE NO LONGER BEATS THE POWER SPREAD. CHANGE IS AT HAND AND THE UME – URBAN MEYER EXPERIENCE – IS LEADING THE WAY.

The Power Spread is an evolution – its about people. Things are changing and for the better. Ironically, OSU, which was lead by a great man for the last decade, is now on its way to transforming the Big 10. This will complete the transition in College Football and seriously effect the NFL. Its the light and its the way – long live the Power Spread!